Best of both Worlds
by The Girl Next Door
Summary: Let’s say that the kiss never happened. Robbie never saw or heard anything, and Ray, Lily and Travis weren’t stuck in a bitter love triangle. Fast-forward to now, a regular Friday in early June. The feelings are still there…just not recognized...Yet
1. Robbie's Story

**_Disclaimer_**_: I don't own it! You know that._

_A/N: Hey there. This is my First Radio free Roscoe story. I would really appreciate reviews! Be nice. I can handle a flame, but they still aren't fun __J I'll warn you now, that this is **Travis/Lily** (The best of both worlds, hehehe, I killed myself when he said that!)_

_Summery: Let's say that the kiss never happened. Robbie never saw or heard anything, and Ray, Lily and Travis weren't stuck in a bitter love triangle. Fast-forward to now, a regular Friday in early June. All the feelings are still there…some just haven't been recognized. Yet…_

**_Best of Both Worlds_**

_Chapter one:_

Robbie's Story 

_What you thought was real in life, somehow steer you wrong  
And now you just keep trying and trying to find where you belong_

_~The Road I'm On, Three Doors Down_

_***_

_Two trains that are traveling in opposite directions leave from the same station. Train A is traveling at 75 kilometers an hour. Train B leaves two hours later, and is traveling at 80 kilometers an hour. Three hours after Train B departs, how many kilometers apart will they be_? 

Robbie looked down and blinked. Math. He absolutely _hated_ math. It was with out a doubt his least favorite subject. When was he ever going to _use_ the stuff? He took a deep breath, and tried to, once again, solve the problem rationally, with out freaking out, tearing the ruddy test up in frustration, or screaming 'I HATE MATHEMATICS' at the top of his lungs. 

He glanced at the person next to him, Travis Strong, who had already taken his test and flipped it over, placing it neatly on the corner of his desk. He looked up, and offered Robbie a sympathetic nod and half smile.

It wasn't fair. Since the day Robbie met him, Travis had always been the guy who '_Got things_'. It didn't even seem like he had to work at it, it just happened. Tough math problem, Travis got that. Shakespeare, Travis could understand that. Advanced Nuclear Physics… Well, Robbie hadn't actually heard of a high school that offered Advanced Nuclear Physics, but he was sure that Travis would excel in it. 

"Ten minutes left." The teachers' voice broke into his bitter thoughts, bringing him back to reality. He was writing a Math Unit test and still had two questions left.

Abandoning his earlier muse, Robbie picked up his calculator and began punching in numbers, desperately hoping to at least pass the test. 

***

The bell rang not a moment to soon. Robbie was just putting his test face down in the corner, when everybody else was hurrying out of the classroom, ready to salvage the weekend. He packed his calculator and pencil into his bag, and followed his classmate into the busy hall. Ray and Travis were waiting for him outside the door, Ray waving at a few people as they passed, and Travis leaning casually against the wall.

"Hey, guys" Robbie said as he approached them. 

Travis nodded and smiled back, and Ray, now finished saying his good-byes smiled widely, "How did your test go?"

Robbie shrugged. He never told how a test went before he got his mark, afraid to jinx himself. Ray pulled a face.

"That good, eh? Aw, well, you have a whole weekend to get over it. Hey, have you seen Lily?" 

"No," Travis said, readjusting his bag on his shoulder. "I think that she had Music appreciation, though." 

Ray nodded, "Cool … cool." He was scanning the crowd over Robbie's shoulder, unaware that Lily was walking up behind him.

"Hey Guys." Ray jumped, and turned around quickly. Both Robbie and Lily burst out laughing (though Lily seemed a little confused) and Travis shook his head chuckling.

"Not cool, Lily, not cool." Ray said, scratching the back of his neck, embarrassed. Lily continued to laugh, and Ray shoved her playfully in the shoulder. 

Now, behavior like this is normal. This is actually how it is every day, Ray being a goof, Lily being her silly, creative self, and Travis with his cool ever cool aura surrounding him. But this day, something changed. Something was different. 

Ray playfully shoved Lily, normal. Lily pretended to be emotionally hurt, placing a hand over her heart, normal. Travis and Robbie laughing at both of them, normal.

But Travis wasn't laughing. In a split second, Robbie saw something that he had never seen before. Something, some kind of emotion, flashed in his friends' eyes' that was so dark, and so … so … He didn't know. It was gone before it started. Once again, Travis was laughing, like he always did. Like normal. 

Robbie continued to stare at him, barely blinking, mouth half open. He didn't even realize that the rest of his friends had gone silent, and were now shooting him odd looks...

"Uh-" A hand waved in front of his face, bringing him back to reality. "-Earth to Robbie. You still with us buddy." 

He shook his head to clear his mind, and glanced over at Lily who was giving him a slightly concerned, slightly amused look. He apologized quickly, "Erm, yea, sorry. I zoned out for a sec."  

Lily waved her hand in a dismissive manner, and looked around the group, " I guess we should be going, right?"

"Mmhmm!" Ray said happily, gently bumping into Robbie as he passed. He turned back a second later, clearly about to apologize, but stopped, his mouth open. "Man, are you OK?" 

"Fine … Fine. Com'on, lets get out of here."

"You got it, bro!" Ray slapped him cheerfully on the back before prancing towards the door.

***

They walked together in relative silence, Lily had her headphones on, and was humming pleasantly along to the music, Ray was transfixed with watching Lily, and Travis had his gaze set steadily on the pavement.

"Hey." Robbie said softly, slowing his pace down a bit so he was right next to Travis, "What's up?"

He looked up, shrugging.

"Uh, not really the answer I was looking for. Lets try thing again … what's _wrong_?" He inquired. Travis sighed, but then shrugged again.

"Nothing. Why?" He asked, looking down again. This was clearly going nowhere. 

"I don't know, you just seem … down, that's all." Robbie shrugged, trying to keep his voice cool and nonchalant. 

Travis chuckled, shaking his head slightly and looking up a the dark gray-purple sky, "Looks like its going to rain." 

And although Robbie noted that he was obviously avoiding the question, he decided to let it go. For now…

"Yea, it does." The clouds were swirling quickly above them, so dense and dark that it could be mistaken for nightfall rather than early afternoon. An extremely bright bolt of lightning darted in the distance, and was followed a few seconds later by a laud clap of thunder. Robbie actually liked the rain, it was peaceful, nice; nut Robbie _loved_ storms. They were exciting, dangerous, adrenaline pumping goodness. There was almost nothing that Robbie didn't like about storms. 

He turned back to Travis, about to tell him about his love for storms, but he was no longer paying attention to Robbie. He was looking forward, more specifically, towards Lily and Ray. For a second, he seemed completely out of it, but he seemed to shake it off, and turned towards Robbie, smiling. "Aw, well. Won't let it ruin my weekend." 

Robbie nodded, laughing, "That's the way to be." He reached over and patted him on the back. He watched Ray open the door to the hangout for Lily, bowing in a completely fake, but somewhat humourous, way. She laughed, curtsied, and leaped in cheerfully. Robbie felt Travis' muscles tighten beneath his jacket, and he lightly shook away Robbie's hand. Robbie stopped, as Travis took a few steps forward. 

Travis whirled around, "You coming?" Any awkwardness that might have been on his face a few second ago were gone. Robbie tried to smile normally.

"Yea, let's go."

***

"Welcome to Radio-"

"-Free-"

"-Roscoe!" 

Shady Lane started by saying: "And lets all welcome an exciting, fun-filled weekend, away from school, In which we have the freedom to do whatever we choose-"

A loud and low rumble ripped through her speech.

"-Unless you plan on going outside…" Pronto said, laughing. 

"You know, Lots of people like the rain. It's good for … uh…"

"Fishing?" Smog offered, a note of humour in his voice.

"Yea! Fishing." Said Question Mark, shaking his head, "A noble sport." 

"Agreed." Shady Lane said, "But what I want to know is, what's the _best_ way to kill the rainy-day blues?"

"Well, I think that it's snuggling up on the couch "_watching"_ movies all day long…" 

"You would-" Question Mark added, laughing and ducking as Pronto sent a pencil at his head. "-Ouch, no need to get violent. How 'bout you, Smog."

 "I don't know. I don't really look at rainy days differently than I do sunny days."

"-You don't go outside?" 

"No, not like that, I just mean- I roll with them." Shady Lane was nodding, and Pronto laughed.

"You _roll_ with the rain?"

"Yep"

"… Yea, that's cool." He said, smiling at Smog in the booth. He held up the chalkboard, nodding at Shady Lane.

"Clover, what do _you_ do to kill the Rainy day Blues?" 

"I do things that I enjoy. Read, doodle and write. Avoid the music and stuff that has bummed out messages, you know? Nothing that could bring me down, rain's bad enough."

"Cool! What about you Crystal?" 

"I like to get away from the house to keep my mind off the weather, like go bowling or something."

"A very good suggestion. And on that note, I think its time for a song! What d'we got, Shady?"

 "Well, Question Mark, we have a warm helping of '_Cold Front'_ on the way. This won't bum you out Clover."

The music started to pulse, and the Robbie took off his headphones. "That was a hideous pun, Lily."

"Pfft, Shut up! Like you could do any better!"

"True" He held up his hands in a peace offering, laughing. Another loud clap of thunder disturbed them, and Lily visibly shuddered.

"What's up?" Travis asked, sounding slightly worried (Though probably not enough for anyone but Robbie would notice.)

"Err, nothing." She smiled, sitting back down, and repositioning her headphones. Travis' expression darkened, but he also sat down, and picked up the phone.

"Hmmm." He pushed a button and held the phone to his ear again, "Wha-?" 

"What is it?" Robbie asked, standing up and walking towards the little booth.

"Well, there were at least three callers here before the song started, and now-" He held the phone to Robbie's ear. No sound.

"Dead." 

Travis nodded, "Yea."

"Wait-" Lily said from the doorway. She leaning on the doorframe completely unnoticed by Robbie, and a second later Ray had appeared behind her. "-Are you saying that the phone line is … dead?!" 

"Uh." Robbie looked over at Travis who was dialing a number on his cell phone. He waited a second, and then tucked it into his pocket.

"Yea, they are." Travis looked up at Lily, offering a small smile. She took a deep breath in, but tried to smile back. The song had stopped now, leaving the entire station in an uncomfortable silence. Travis leaned down to his Mike. 

"Uh, Hey out there. I'm not sure if the systems up, but if it is, give us a second to regroup here." He flicked it off, glimpsing around the room.

"Hey guys…" Ray started, after a second. "Don't Dead Phones usually come and in hand with-" But he was cut out by a large bang from outside, and a blinding flash less than a second later. Lily let out a small screech.

Everything in the room went dark

"…Blackouts?"

***

_Tada! _

_What did you think? Please **review**! _

_I will keep updating, and it wont all be from Robbie's perspective. I really hope that you like it so far. _

_Remember, this is like none of the last few episodes happened. Its AU-ish I suppose… not really. Ahh, I don't know. Let me know what you think._

_~Angi :o) _


	2. Lily's Story

**_Disclaimer_**_: I still don't own it!_

_A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last time! I can feel the love :o) my personal thanks are at the bottom_.

**Best of Both Worlds**

**_Lily's Story_**

_Things aren't the way they were before  
__You wouldn't even recognize me anymore  
_Not that you knew me back then   
_But it all comes back to me in the end.  
__I Tried So Hard, Linkin Park_

_#_

She shuddered slightly; feeling like all the warmth had been sucked out of her, along with any self-assurance that may have been stored up somewhere deep inside her body. It was very dark, and very stormy; neither of which appealed to Lily in the slightest.

She heard someone shuffling around a few feet away from her, Travis, she figured. "I know there in here somewhere…"he said under his breath, frustrated. It sounded like he yanked something harshly from underneath his desk, followed by a low 'Thump' of a body, a 'whoosh' of something (or _things_) flying through the air, a 'clump' and-

"Ow, Sh-" A light illuminated the room, showing Travis sprawled out on the ground, a lit flashlight in his hand. Robbie picking up a few that were scattered around him on the floor and Ray holding his forehead, squinting his eyes and grimacing.

"Found 'em." Travis said, sitting up and handing Lily flashlight.

"How did you-" Robbie started, and Travis shrugged.

"I dunno. Had them just incase."

'That's our Swami." Ray smiled, picking up the flashlight that nailed him in the head, glared at it, then flicking it on. "Always so prepared."

"Haha." Travis smirked, standing up now, and moving out of the booth, settling himself on the couch. Lily, not knowing what else to do, took a seat next to him, while Ray pulled up a chair from the corner, and lifted his legs, resting them on the sofa's arm. Robbie leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed, surveying the room.

"I'm gonna check what it's like out there. Want to come?" He looked down at Ray, who quickly glanced over at Lily and Travis, before nodding his head, standing up and following Robbie out the door.

Another clap of thunder shook the warehouse; Lily flinched, and clenched her fists together on her lap. Travis turned to her, a concerned look on his face, "Hey." He smiled a bit, putting his large hand on top of hers', squeezing lightly. "You ok?"

She looked up, nodding slowly, and then laughing quietly at herself. "Yea," She shook her head and closed her eyes, smiling slightly, "Yea, fine."

"Ok." He nodded. She opened her eyes again, and looked down and his hand that was still covering hers. It was very warm, she noticed, and soft, really smooth. She didn't even realize that he had been speaking to her.

"- But, it's ok to be scared you know." She was smashed out of her thoughts, and looked up at him.

"I know." She smiled. _'I'm just being stupid. It's only a little rain_…'

"That is one _crap load_ of rain!" Ray pushed to door open. Lily felt Travis' hand slip away from hers, and watched it perch on his knee. Robbie followed him, shaking his head like a dog, letting the water fly from his curly locks.

"Hey! You got me wet!" Ray complained, wiping water out of his face. Robbie glared at him, spreading his arms to reveal an absolutely drenched shirt.

"_I_ got _you_ _wet_? Please _forgive_ me!"

"Hey, I didn't insist on going out there to see exactly how hard it was coming down, which-" He turned to Lily and Travis, "-is _extremely_ hard."

"I assumed." Lily said, holding in a laugh and looking over at Robbie who was ringing out the bottom of his top. Travis chuckled, but stood up and disappeared into his both. A second later he emerged holding a dry tee shirt.

"Why did you-"

"Gym. I washed last night, so it shouldn't smell _that_ bad." He plopped onto the couch again. Robbie held the shirt to his nose, crinkled it a little, but seemed so mentally dub the garment better than wet. He peeled off the sodden shirt off his chest, and tossed it at Ray's face.

"Ro-obbie!" He complained. Lily giggled. Robbie simply glared, and pulled Travis's shirt over his head. It was a little tight, Lily noticed, but _dry_.

She shifted her weight on the couch, pulling her legs under her. The realness of this situation was finally starting to hit her. She was trapped. Trapped in a little radio station. Trapped without any way of letter her parents know she was alright … trapped with a room full of BOYS!

Lily groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Ray. Nothing at all."

"So, uhh, when do you think that we're going t get outta here?" Ray asked Robbie, who was reclined in his chair, arms behind his head and eyes closed. There was a blinding flash, and the na cannon fire sounding crack.

"Not soon, I'd bet." He said, no opening his eyes.

Lily sat up quickly. "What do you mean, 'Not soon'? My parents will go nuts if I'm not home for dinner."

Travis dug his cell phone out of his pocket, and passed it to her. "Call them."

She smiled gratefully, and dialed her mothers cell number. It rang three times-

"_Hello_?"

"Hey Mom."

"_Honey. Are you alright_?"

"Yea, I'm fine. Just … a little stuck. Its raining like mad out there. So, uh… I have no idea when I'll be home."

"_Where are you_?"

'_Oh crap._' She covered up the mouthpiece, and hissed to the rest of the DJ's, "She wants to know where I am. What do I say?!"

Robbie's eyes flashed, "Uhh, Tell her you're at my place- And if she needs you, give her Trav's Cell number." Lily nodded.

"Lily?"

"I'm here, sorry. I'm over at Robbie's. You can't call the house, the phones dead, but you can get hold of me at-"

She recited Travis's number, and assured her mother that she was REALLY alright efore snapping the phone closed.

"Well, I'm taken care of. Who next?"

_##_

_Strum_.

"I'm stuck in a radio station-"

_Strum_.

"With no means of communication-"

_Strum_.

"And I think we've all just about had it-"

_Strum_.

"Because I feel like I'm in a load of- _OUCH_! Robbie! What the Hell!" Lily put her guitar down, and threw the offending squishy ball back at Robbie. She missed by a landslide.

Robbie laughed, and tossed it to Travis who was half sitting/ half laying on the couch next to Lily. He and Robbie started a fast-paced game of catch that ended when the ball nailed Ray in the arm. He was currently sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch with his knees up. Cradling his head in his hands, and propping his elbows on his knees, he murmured. "I'm hungry…"

As if on command, Lily's stomach growled. They both looked up at Travis.

"Uhh…"

"You're kidding me? Out have everything for any emergency, but you don't have … FOOD!"

But at that exact moment, Robbie got up and walked towards the freestanding wardrobe-like closet in the corner. He pulled out a case of pop and a few bags of chips, and a large bad of dried fruit.

"DUDE! You've been holding out on us." Ray nearly attacked the bag of nachos that Robbie tossed to him. Robbie looked up sheepishly.

"Sorry. I forgot I bought these on Wednesday."

He handed Lily the bag of dry fruit. "Why?" She asked. Robbie shrugged.

"I dunno. Incase we ever spontaneously said 'Hey! Lets have a party'"

Lily laughed. "Good enough for me."

#

"Choose, Kim Carlyle reading your diary or being 'pantsed' in the cafeteria." Ray asked Lily. 

"Oh, that's tough. Pants- _Wait_! How do you know that I keep a diary?"

Ray glanced over at Robbie, who was hiding his face and giggling slightly.

"Uhh…"

#

Lily stared up at the clock for what felt like hours. 7:46. She had been here for over 4 hours. 

Sick.

"Guys … I'm bored." Ray looked up at her.

"Choose-"

"I don't _want_ to play choose." She whined. Ray looked a little affronted, and pouted a bit.

"Fine how about …" Ray's eyes lit up, "Truth or dare!"

Travis rolled his eyes, "I haven't played that since I was 12" But Lily was thrilled.

"Yea! Robbie, you first. Truth or Dare."

"Neither. Not playing."

"Aww, no, you have to play! Com'on, Truth or Dare?"

He sighed slightly, but smiled, "Fine, truth."

"Ohh! Ok, what are you're TRUE feelings for the ever prickly Kim Carlyle?" Robbie looked sheepish

"Aww, Lily, that one's obvious!"

"Shut up, Ray. Umm, I like her I guess…"

"You guess?"

"Well … I dunno."

"You suck at this game. Ok, Ray, Truth or Dare"

"Hey, doesn't _Robbie_ get to ask now?"

"No." She said moodily.

"Why?"

"Because I said so!" Ok, so she was more than moody. She was downright crabby, though she would blame it on cabin fever and not her childish fear of storms...   
  
She heard Robbie mutter under his breath, "This is going to be a _long_ night…"

_

#  
  
Oh my gosh. I just read over that and I don't like it one bit. I might change it later this week, if I have the time- Or maybe I'll just learn to like this one and save me the time, and then work on chapter three…

_

_blech._

_Maybe I'll surprise myself!  
  
I actually didn't have as much fun writing this chapter than I did my last. I think that I'll do more from **Robbie's** Point of View. Hope no one minds **too** much. _

_Thanks very much to_**: preciousbabyblue, AlannaBanana, TaichiKoi, Reviewchick14, HPLunatic, ILUVTRILLY, duckysgal1025, archforge, caalan4rfr, sethsduck17, angelfromhigh, TrilyFan4lyf91**

**Msshadylane**- Hey, thanks for the review. Let me clear this up for you. The phone line was down before the power went out. So let say for example lightning strikes a phone line (Uhh, forgetting smart, technical word) it would cut off the connection from both corded and cordless phones. However, cell phones would still work, because they are on a completely different system.


End file.
